Bandh supporters stop several trains in Bihar

Patna, Oct 15: The bandh organised by opposition parties in

affected public transport today as several trains were stopped by protesters and buses stayed off the roads. [Update:

]

The Toofan Express and Garib Rath had to be halted at Arrah railway station as bandh supporters were squatting on the tracks. Some of those on board the Sharamjivi Express were injured in stone pelting at Nalanda.

Police said that activists of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, CPI, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), CPI-M, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist blocked passenger trains at various stations including Gaya, Jehanabad and Patna.

Vehicular movement was also impacted. Trucks and other heavy vehicles did not ply in the state today. The motorists who ventured out of their homes found to their dismay that road blocks had been put up even on National Highways.

While Arrah, Madhubani, Jehanabad and Darbhanga witnessed a near total shutdown, people in Patna did not face too much difficulty though educational institutions were closed and shops downed their shutters.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and a few other opposition leaders were detained during the daylong bandh which they had called to highlight the death of three persons in police firing at Madhubani on Oct 12.

The discovery of a headless body in the town nearly two weeks ago triggered the unrest. Close relatives of a young man named Prashant Kumar who has been missing for some time averred that the body was his. However, police refused to hand over the body to them.

A large number of Madhubani residents staged an agitation over this issue on Oct 12 and 13. When the stir turned violent, policemen fired at the mob. Though the state government has ordered a judicial probe into the incident, tension still simmers in Madhubani and adjoining areas.

RJD leaders today claimed that the law and order situation in Bihar had deteriorated. The Nitish Kumar-led government has no control over the state police, they alleged.

OneIndia News